myCharge RazorPlatinum USB Type C Battery Pack Review

Apple was mocked soon after unveiling the Macbook with only a single USB Type C port. After I purchased my Nexus 6P phone, I started to understand. There were just so few devices ready for the new USB standard. All my previous phone chargers were useless without an adapter or a new cable, which of course were quite expensive. Over the past year, new accessories have trickled out from manufacturers to support the new void in the marketplace. Various USB car chargers, adapters, and new cables have hit the market in storm. Still, almost all of them only support the lowest level of charging allowed over USB Type C: 3 amps at 5 volts for 15 watts of power. While this is faster than the older USB specs (5 volts at 0.5 amps, up to 1.5 amps for a total of 7.5 watts), it pales in comparison to the higher watt charging modes some USB Type C devices are capable of: 12 volts at 1.5 or 3 amps for 18 or 36 watts, or even 20 volts at 3 or even 5 amps (60 or 100 watts).

While some newer charges have hit the market supporting more powerful USB charging, there are only a handful of batteries with native USB Type C support. And of that handful, there’s only one that I’ve seen which supports charging over 5 volts. The myCharge RazorPlatinum is it. With support for 12 volt/3 amp charging, it is able to charge the Macbook and Chromebook Pixel at rapid speed, more than twice as fast as with a standard USB Type C charger.

In testing with my Nexus 6P, my stock Google charger charged my completely depleted phone in 1 hour and 40 minutes. With the myCharge Razor Platinum, it completed the charge in 1 hour and 38 minutes. It’s unclear whether the charge was actually faster than the AC adapter or not due to Android’s less-than-precise battery reporting. Likewise, the stock Apple 29 watt Macbook charger charges a fully depleted 12 inch Retina Macbook in just over 90 minutes, with the myCharge RazorPlatinum finishing at just over 100 minutes. I wasn’t able to ever quite hit 100 minutes, but I’ll attribute their claim to a rounding error. Either way, there is no other device that I’ve seen which can fully recharge a Macbook in less than two hours. It’s truly incredible.

Ultimately, if you own a phone that has a USB Type C port, the myCharge RazorPlatinum should be on your short-list of accessories. If you have a Macbook with a USB Type C port and you find yourself running low on charge, it shouldn’t just be on your short-list, but should be your first accessory. With Apple-like build quality, compact size, and incredible charging speed, it’s not just any battery. It’s the battery pack you need. Oh, and of course it also charges standard USB Type A (regular old USB) devices without a hitch.

Patrick Nosker founded pnosker.com in 2008 as a small review website. Since then, it has grown considerably as he serves as Editor-in-Chief. He enjoys high end audio, computers, gadgets, games, cars, and biology. In addition to being the boss of pnosker.com, he is also pursuing a PhD in the Molecular Biosciences at Rutgers University.